Antithesis, The Terminus of Light and Dark
#16 of Antithesis
The final chapter of the story trade. Before anyone asks, the rest of the story will be told by Lady Shalendrea.
As always, comments are appreciated and requested.
Continued from 'In Power Matched...'
"You are foolish, I think, Shandi." Shaden said, looking at his sister with a half sneer on his lips, the dark aura of his magic power coming into being around him as he brought it to the surface. "You couldn't beat me last time without the help of your precious Knight."
"You caught me off guard that time, Shaden." Shandi replied, delving deep within herself, bringing her own formidable powers to bear. As the power swam to the surface, the snow leopardess' body began to glow with its energy, making her snow white fur even brighter, the glow suffusing the air around her until it was like she was a being of pure light. At her display of magical might, Shaden's sneer began to falter. "You will not do so again. Come brother, let us finish this."
"As you wish." Shaden snarled, pointing his rune sword at his sister, waves of crimson light running up the runes in time with his heart. At once, a black lance of energy shot from the weapon, surging towards her in the blink of an eye. But the magus of light was ready, a shield appearing before her, crafted of brilliant white. When the two magics met, a thunderbolt rent the air of the chamber, shaking dust from the ceiling, the two powers annihilating one another in an instant. In a flash, Shandi retaliated, summoning a brilliant white arrow before her. With a piercing shriek like the bolts shot from the bows of house Kirinus, the arrow shot towards Shaden, separating into two, then four, then more, as it flew. But Shaden was ready for the spell, the stones at his feet suddenly leaping upward like a wall, the arrows splintering into nothing as they touched it. Then, the wall shot at Shandi, forcing her to leap aside, the stone battering ram shattering one of the high windows as it barreled through it, showering glass down on them. Dropping her whip at her feet, Shandi gestured with both hands, scribing an infinite loop through the air and the many shards of glass that had once been a towering window suddenly swirled to life, whipping around and around into a cyclone of glittering pieces that caught the starlight, reflecting it brilliantly in bands and swirls on the walls of the chamber. With a single movement, the whirling mass of glass swirled towards Shaden and it was his turn to dodge.
Spreading his broad leathery wings, Shaden leapt into the air, sheathing his drawn sword into his belt in the same motion, taking flight over the top of the cyclone, barely avoiding the ravening top of the whirlwind as it sped down the hall, shredding the doors into splinters on contact. Hovering up near the ceiling, the dark magus placed both palms together, and suddenly thrust both hands at his sister. Springing from his hands like a cloud of shadows, a cascade of energy surged at the magus of light. At first, it took the form of a dark ball of fire, but halfway to her, it suddenly transformed, splitting in dozens of arcs of lightning, crossing the distance between them in a heartbeat. And then, just before it reached her, the spell changed again, suddenly becoming hard like shards of stone. The shield Shandi raised before her took the brunt of the attack, obliterating almost all of the shards as they touched it. But one shard, coming in from the side at an odd angle, got past her shield and Shandi cried out as it traced a bloody gash along her outstretched arm before smashing a hole in the wall behind her. Snarling in sudden anger, the white castor retaliated, drawing three arcane runes in the air before her with her uninjured hand. For a moment, the runes glowed brilliant white, floating in the air where they had been conjured. Then, as they faded, bands of brilliant white magic suddenly contracted about her brother's wings, sending him crashing earthward. Shaden landed hard against the second floor balcony before sliding to the ground in a heap. But the dark magus was far from disabled.
Hauling himself to his feet as the bands of magic crumbled into faint motes of light as his own powers overcame the spell, Shaden looked at his right wing, which was hanging at a strange angle. For a second, he grimaced, forcing it back behind him, then, with rage hot in his gaze, he turned back to his opponent and finally spoke, taking a few steps towards her, coming out of the roofless hallway and into the open space before the dais.
"Clever Shandi." He sneered, drawing on even more power for his next attack. "Very clever. But you are out of your league." With a swift motion, Shaden flicked his hands upward, then shoved in his sister's direction, ripping the stones of the floor at his feet from their places and flinging them right at her like missiles. While the stones flew, Shaden drew the rune sword he carried from where he had stuck it in his belt and called forth its powers, the runes blazing bright. At once, four identical copies of the sword appeared in the air around his sister, glowing with a pale crimson radiance, all beginning to weave back and forth as if they were each wielded by a master of the blade. But, as the blades darted forward to attack, Shaden was surprised to find that the stones he had flung at his sister had not been broken or deflected as he had expected. Instead, they now swirled and danced around her, intercepting the floating swords in their endless dance, acting as the perfect shield. With each blow that was intercepted, part of the stones crumbled, and soon the shield would fail, but then, all of a sudden, what appeared to be a brilliant white tentacle shot out from a gap in the shield like a striking snake. It curled around the blade that Shaden held, and before he could move to stop it, it contracted.
For a few moments, the blade resisted the white hot touch of the whip. But then, a crack appeared in the steel beneath the white loop that encircled it, a crack that shone with crimson light, and suddenly, dozens of voices screaming in horrid agony filled Shaden's ears and he dropped the sword, clapping both hands to his head, trying to block out the shrill shrieking. And that, more than anything, probably saved his life.
Moments later, the cracks spread, covering the entire sword as if it were made of crystal, not steel, crimson light filling the room as the whip tightened further. And then, with an almighty explosion, the dark rune sword shattered. As the blade was destroyed, all the power of the spirits contained within it was released at once, taking the form of a wave of crimson energy surging outward in all directions. Shaden shut his eyes tightly, raising a barrier of magic all around him just before the sword broke. When the wave of power reached him, he felt it hit like a solid kick to the chest, and he heard the sounds of glass shattering and of rock cracking. And then, a sudden wave of cool silence washed over him, accompanying a sudden wave of dizzyness as the strength it took to protect himself drained from him and he opened his eyes, looking around for a moment before lowering his paws from his ears. Every single window in the room had been shattered by the blast, and the walls between them had spider webbing cracks running through them. The throne like chair was smashed upon the dais, looking as if it had been trodden on by the feet of a giant.
And then, the dark leopard became aware of the brilliant white light that was growing across the dais from him. A few moments later, he realized what it was. His sister was climbing back to her feet in the wake of the blast, hanging her coiled whip at her side. And then, even as he watched, Shandi put her hands together and, whispering arcane words to herself as fast as she could without garbling them, spread them wide apart as if offering a hug, a ball of brilliant white energy coalescing between them as her whole body began to glow with the same eye-hurting white. And at last, Shaden felt a trickle of fear down his spine.
He knew the spell she was using, knew what she was trying to do. The spell she was bringing to life was one of the most powerful that had ever existed in any school of magic. It was called a Cataclysm Sphere, so named because it would utterly destroy its target when it touched, no matter what the target was. It could not be blocked, could not be deflected, and once it had begun to gather, it could not be stopped, its power protecting the castor while it was being constructed. There was only one thing he could think of that might save him. Working swiftly, the dark leopard mimicked his sister, clasping his hands together and then spreading them apart, speaking the same words as fast as he could, feeling the orb start to drain his strength as it formed before him. Quickly, it became a race, both of them feeding power into their orb as fast as they dared and though Shandi had a head start, Shaden wasn't as cautious as she was, feeding his energy a little faster into it.
Very quickly, Shaden felt the pressure build in his chest until it was almost painful, the strain of forging the black sphere driving him to his knees. But Shandi wasn't much better off, sinking down as well as her own brilliant white orb grew in size and brightness. And then, at the exact same moment, the twins spoke the final incantation, including their sibling's name in the spell, directing the destructive energies towards each other. With a suddenness that startled both of them, the spheres shot forward, and, right above the battered body of their slain father, they collided. For the briefest instant, the two spheres tried to force their way through one another, spreading themselves almost flat as they strove to reach their target despite terrible resistant. But then the moment passed, and without warning, they combined. And, as the powers of light and of darkness touched once again, the only thing that could happen without the aid of the god-like powers the twins had commanded when joined, happened. The powers consumed each other, forming a roiling ball of iridescent lightning as the powers fed off of one another, unleashing more and more power as they mixed and annihilated. And for only the second time since they were children, the twins acted as one, both raising a shield around the ball of raw energy, one within the other, containing its destructive force for a few moments.
When his shield spell was in place, Shaden looked up at the oddly beautiful magic storm that was only temporarily being held in check by the barrier. He knew he was witnessing a great and terrible moment in the history of magic. This was something wholly new, something that had never been seen before. Never had two castors both tried to use the Cataclysm Sphere at the same time, much less two castors from opposing schools. He could only imagine what would happen if that shield failed. If they could keep the shields up around it, perhaps it would just consume itself, the opposing energies negated by one another. But that was a big if. As much as he hated to admit it, Shaden was tired. He only had strength enough left for one, or maybe two spells, and then he would risk death by using even the most minor of skills. And he knew, as surely as he knew his own name, that his sister was similarly exhausted.
And then, he knew that even that thought was only wishful thinking. Before either of them could react, a crack formed in the shields, and instantly a bolt of multicolored lightning shot through it, striking one of the pillars that held up the high ceiling. It only lasted an instant, the shield spell shifting its energy to close the rift. But that brief exposure was more than enough. The towering pillar that had stood for thousands of years without sagging or breaking, the collection of stones that had taken eight men stretching out their arms to encircle it, crumbled into dust as if it had been made of sand, bringing with it a section of the roof. Shaden knew now what would happen when the shield failed, and he knew also that there was no stopping it. Acting quickly, the dark leopard sent word to the magi who were loyal to him with his magic, and then opened an arcane portal, the two acts, though simple in themselves, draining him almost to the point of total exhaustion. Then, with one last lingering look at his sister, Shaden stepped through, into the dark room beyond...
***
On the stone dais where the throne had once stood, Shandi sat on her knees, exhaustion taking hold of her. All she had done had been for not. She had failed. Shaden had escaped her, and like as not, he would make a new base of operations on another of the worlds that House Kit'ranth controlled. And no matter what she did, even if she found him again, she could not defeat him. They were perfectly matched, down to the last ounce of strength. No matter what spells she used, it would end in a draw as it had today. But, then, even as she sat in despair, waiting for oblivion to come, she felt a warm hand upon her shoulder. Looking up, she found Kael standing there, both packs slung on his shoulders.
"My lady, we need to leave." He said, gesturing up to the swirling mass of magic that floated in the middle of the room, the shell that contained it growing ever thinner. Already the inner shield had failed, and the outer shell was being stretched to the limit as the power that fueled it was consumed. Moment by moment, it grew closer to failure.
"Where can we go?" Shandi asked, despair filling her voice. "Shaden has won. With the power he commands, no world is safe. When my order's headquarters fell during Kirinus's attack on the library world, the last ally I could trust died."
"I know a place." Kael stated and Shandi looked up to find him smiling once more...
***
Shaden pushed open the door to the darkened chamber, his eyes adjusting almost instantly to the utter darkness within it. Smiling, Shaden looked around, finding the furnishings to his liking. Few indeed had ever seen this place and fewer still had lived to tell the tale. The last time he had been here, the darkness had been almost a physical thing, made so by its master. Now, it was simply the darkness of abandonment, awaiting a new master to call it forth, to command the energies of this place, to will it into being. Walking slowly inside the stone chamber, his injured wing throbbing in his exhaustion, the dark leopard paused, looking around with satisfaction. This would do. It would do very nicely indeed.
Walking to the high backed chair that sat in the dim shadows across the room, Shaden paused a moment, and then settled himself into it. For a few moments, the leopard sat upright in the chair, feeling a presence in the room with him, a presence that waited to see what he would do. Then, the dark castor leaned back, settling wholly into the chair, symbolically claiming the place as his own. Looking up at the talon-like spines that had been carved into the back of the chair, he suddenly felt a dark thrill wash through him. It was so like to the touch of the spirits within the dark rune blade that he knew it could only be something akin to it. And then, as he made himself at home, lounging back in the chair, finding it to be, while still rigidly carved, oddly comfortable, he felt a touch upon his mind, feather light like the kiss of a snowflake born on a breeze. And then, he felt the touch intensify for a moment, and, as if the presence in the darkness had enfolded him in a hug, he felt a sudden warmth rise in him. Without warning, new power flooded into him, easing his exhaustion, soothing the pain in his injured wing. The power seemed to come from all around him, leaching into him from the air as if he sat within magic itself.
And then, as even more knowledge filled his mind, showing him the source of its power, he began to laugh, a deep, rolling laugh that echoed infinitely within the smooth, dark space. This place, this sanctum that had been built by the vampire whom he had briefly commanded, was somehow alive, some remnant of the beast that had called it home remaining behind. And now, it was his. And more, he had won. His plans had succeeded. Already the allies of his house had accepted him as The Lord Kit'ranth; already, the other houses he had been secretly negotiating with had sworn themselves into alliance as well, giving him control over more than half of the nobles. And, in the darkness of his new home, Lord Shaden sat in his throne, his laughter filling the air...
***
15, 045 years AME
Shandi walked alone on the cold stone of the ramparts, dressed in a heavy winter cloak, her breath forming clouds that floated upward slowly only to be swallowed by the endless stars above her. The winter air was bitterly cold, so cold that it stung the lungs simply to draw a breath. It was so cold that ice crystals formed in her fur simply from the moisture in the clouds of steam produced by her breathing. It was so cold outside the walls of the keep of Haven's Gate that a fine shell of frost formed on the armor of the wolfish sentries she passed as they endlessly patrolled the stone walls. And yet, she, like them, wasn't cold in the least, the heat from the special drink she had drunk earlier keeping the chill from her. Looking out over the frozen valley, she marveled at how much had changed in the months since she had first come here. Long months ago, she and Kael had fled from her home world just before the shield had collapsed and the Cataclysm Spheres had been unleashed. Her homeworld was now nothing more than rubble floating in the void, all the places she had known long gone.
When they had fled to Antaria, Kael had led her to the great fortress of Adarus, the headquarters of the Knighthood. There, they had met with Adrianna Corsiter, the Grand Master, the leader of the Knighthood, who, after having the situation explained to her, hadn't hesitated to grant them sanctuary. In order to hide them from outsiders, the Grand Master had sent them to Haven's Gate, the northernmost outpost of the knights. Nestled within the Haven Peaks, not more than a week's travel from the Duranus family's former holdings in the frozen north of Antaria, it very rarely ever got visitors. And, with the long, frozen winter coming, it was the perfect hiding place. But what Shandi hadn't expected was the beauty of the Keep's architecture. Constructed of white marble and granite, it had shone like a beacon in the dying sunlight of late autumn, the banners of the King's army and the Knighthood itself draped upon its walls standing out proudly against the reddening background. The waterfalls that had cascaded down the cliffs opposite the mountain fortress had filled the valley below with endless rainbows of mist, gilding the pines with light as it had settled upon them like so much morning dew.
And then, the endless night of the northern winter had come and she had understood the true beauty of this place in the north, and the reason why so many knights and soldiers volunteered to be posted there. Pausing in her walk on the longest section of the rampart's walkway, Shandi laid her gloved hands on the crenellations, the blue sodalite crystal that topped the ramparts smooth beneath her touch, cleared of snow by the guards. Across the valley, cascading down the cliffs in endless tiers, the frozen waterfalls stood out amid the frosted dark green of the pine forest, and she smiled, remembering the first time she had seen their wonder. In the first hours of the long night, Kael had awoken her out of her sleep, insisting that she come out to see something. When she had reluctantly agreed and had finally come out onto the castle's frozen walls, she had been struck speechless by the display of natural splendor before her. The Northern Lights, a near constant attraction in the winter months, had been caught in the newly frozen waterfalls, and they had glittered and gleamed in an endless, marvelous display of color that had danced as the lights had shifted in the sky above them.
Taking a deep, icy breath of air, Shandi looked out to the east and the south, to the low lands below. Out there, even in the winter months, a war raged on. King Aronus, the last king of the twenty first dynasty of Antaria, the man who had sworn an alliance with house Kit'ranth in exchange for the throne, had died in the first months of winter. The king who had betrayed his brothers had become more and more deluded in the autumn of the previous year, becoming so paranoid and afraid of being betrayed that he had stopped trusting anyone around him. Eventually, he even went so far as to send the Cer'al away, the elite company of knights who were his personal bodyguards, swearing that they were planning to kill him. And, a few weeks later, Aronus died at the hands of one of his many lovers, though the motive for the murder was far from clear. And so, war had broken out again, four great alliances of nobles fighting over the throne. And, as always, the knighthood remained apart, joining no side and fighting only to protect what was theirs. The rest of the world wisely let them be, fearing the wrath of the powerful army at their command.
And beyond Antaria, out in the rest of the noble worlds, things weren't much better. Lord Shaden had done what he had said he would, all but two of the houses allying themselves with him. His power was very great now, so great that even the royal family listened to him. His reach had become long indeed, but still he hadn't found her, though she knew he was spending a great portion of his resources looking for her. But for all of that, with a civil war raging on Antaria, the alliance with house Kit'ranth was essentially broken. Her brother had no means to find her here.
Smiling slightly, Shandi marveled at his obsession with her. She was the one thing he wanted that he couldn't get. Even with all the power and influence he had at his command, he still wasn't satisfied. But rumors had reached her ears through the few contacts she still had on the outside, rumors of armed conflicts that had broken out on many worlds, and that Shaden's hold over the nobles wasn't as secure as he thought it was. But be that as it may, without a strong leader to oppose him, Shandi knew that he would have control, practically ruling the noble worlds.
Sensing someone come up beside her, she reflected that it wasn't all bad news. Looking over at her visitor, she felt her smile widen. Kael stood beside her, his armor masterfully repaired beneath a fur lined cloak, the silver crown of fur on his head glimmering with frost as his breath froze around him. Returning her smile, the wolfish Knight gently clasped her hand and they looked out together, facing the east. The last few months had been wonderful. Without the need to appear to be a noblewoman and her retainer among the good natured and utterly loyal knights, she and Kael had been free to show their relationship. Technically, it still wasn't appropriate for them to be together, but the other knights hadn't said a word about it. Having seen them up close for such a long time, though the knights might say otherwise, Shandi had come to believe that the knight's loyalty to each other was even greater than their loyalty to the King. When the pair had arrived at Haven's Gate, the other knights had treated her with great respect and reverence, as she had expected. But after learning of the depths of her and Kael's relationship, the knights had started treating her as one of their own, many even going so far as to tell her their real names. Not a word of her presence among them had been said to the few visitors that had battled the cold and the winter storms to reach the keep.
After recuperating from the duel with her brother, she had asked Kael to show her his homeland and they had spent two weeks wandering the places he had known. They had seen the ruined castle of Ker-line where he had had been born, and the crystal forest that he had once described to her. As they had wandered the frozen pine woods, and she had stood amid the glittering, multicolored mists, the dream she had had when in the library had returned to her mind. She had smiled to herself, not sharing the image of the hybrid child she had seen with her lover just yet, wanting to keep it hidden in her own heart a little longer.
And, it had been on that journey that she had learned to enjoy fire tea. When she had first tried the strange, spicy concoction, the extremely strong taste of the infusion of secret herbs had made her gag. But after spending weeks outside in the winter cold, she had grown to like it. The virtue of the drink was something that even she had not expected, allowing the drinker to be warm for hours on end even in the deepest, most bitter cold. And now, she drank whole flasks of the beverage without blinking, as did all who lived in the frozen north. But this, this was a special day, a day that she had been looking forward to since it had first been described to her. Already, the eastern horizon was starting to brighten, light blue creeping into the inky blackness.
She knew that her vacation from the problems of the noble worlds couldn't last forever. Someday, she would be discovered. Someday, she would have to leave this comfortable place and face her brother again. But for now, she was content to wait. As the first pink and orange hues of First Dawn began to creep into the distant sky, Shandi laid her head on her knight's shoulder, the knight's cloak keeping the chill of the metal paldron from touching her. The two of them had a somewhat unique place among the knights now. While Kael was still technically a part of the King's Legion, the heavy horse unit that the Knights fought in when not assigned to other duties, it seemed to be an unspoken fact among the Knights that the orders that had sent him to house Kit'ranth still applied. And so, therefore, he was still her retainer. And until the new King, or Queen, who had yet to be crowned said otherwise, that was his greatest duty. And with the bloody civil war in full swing, that didn't look likely to change any time soon.
With a breathtaking suddenness, the first edge of the sun lifted above the horizon a moment later, a brilliant red-orange, filling the sky with heat and light for the first time in months. As the light lit upon the frozen falls, the chill mist began to rise, and everything was gilded in rubies and gold. Smiling at the beauty that was revealed as the First Dawn of the New Year broke, Kael nestled his head against Shandi's and they watched together as the sun climbed into the sky. For all the troubles that had passed, for all the evil that had occurred in the last year, there was still hope. A new day was dawning...
To be continued...